Muskegon County’s longtime chief District Court probation officer has been ordered to go on administrative leave, another probation officer has been fired, and an internal investigation of their activities is under way.
On paid leave since Thursday is the court’s Chief Probation Officer Ronald Malone. Fired Wednesday was Probation Officer Brandon Kantola.
Both were escorted from the Michael E. Kobza Hall of Justice by sheriff’s deputies.
Both officers are involved in 60th District Court’s Sobriety Court, which recently won a two-year, $500,000 federal stimulus grant to expand the jail-diversion program.
Malone’s leave is for an indefinite period while an investigation is under way, said Chief District Judge Harold F. Closz III. “It’s an internal investigation at this point,” he said Friday.
Closz declined to say what the investigation concerned or whether it was related to Sobriety Court.
Muskegon County Prosecutor Tony Tague said Friday he is aware of the internal investigation, but that it hadn’t been referred to police. “Law enforcement has been notified, and I expect that we will do an additional investigation once we are provided information from the District Court,” Tague said.
In recent years Malone and Kantola have been involved in Muskegon County’s Sobriety Court, which involves intensive, court-supervised probation and oversight of participating criminal defendants, mostly people charged with driving while intoxicated. Malone, the county staffer who oversees it, has been described as the court’s main organizer and “architect.”
Closz said Malone’s absence and Kantola’s departure won’t cripple Sobriety Court. “Obviously we’re short-staffed at this point in time, but we have other people that have picked up these responsibilities, and we’re marching ahead,” Closz said.
Malone did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Kantola does not have a listed telephone number.
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